Coronary CT Used to Measure a Recreational Athlete's Risk of a Cardiovascular Event

Researchers presented the results of the Measuring Athlete's Risk of Cardiovascular events (MARC) study at the 2015 European Congress of Radiology (ECR) in Vienna (Austria). 

Researchers at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC; Utrecht, Netherlands) investigated the added value of low-dose ECG-triggered Coronary CT (CCT) screening, using a 256-slice CT scanner, for detecting coronary artery disease in middle-aged athletes. CCT screening consisted of non-enhanced CT for coronary calcium scoring (CACS), and contrast-enhanced CT for coronary angiography (cCTA). The athletes in the study, all aged 45 or older underwent a sports medical evaluation that included a physical examination, medical history, and electrocardiography during rest and exercise, and did not suffer from cardiovascular disease.

The results showed that CCT was able to identify cardiovascular disease in 59 (19%) of the 314 athletes participating in the study. The results also showed that for CACS to prevent one cardiovascular event in the next five years required screening 118 participants, while a combination of CACS and cCTA required screening only 101 athletes.

More than 90% of exercise-related cardiac arrests occur in men, mostly over the age of 45, as a result of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD).

While regular physical exercise can reduce death from cardiovascular events, exercise also increases the risk of such events, especially in athletes that are not know to have cardiac disease.

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University Medical Center Utrecht